Combines for harvesting grain crops such as wheat, barley, oats and the like have been known for many years. The use of combines to harvest grain crops of this type has permitted the efficient production of said type grain grown on very extensive fields with minimum use of labor and consumption of time. Progressively, combines have been developed capable of harvesting wider swaths of grain than previously harvested by earlier combines and this has resulted in the combines being larger and more powerful, as well as more expensive than such earlier combines.
The increase in cost of such aforementioned improved combines also has led to attempts to develop combines capable of harvesting a wider variety of seed or grain crops than capable of being handled by earlier combines, adapting such combines for said harvesting of a wider variety of crops however being made possible by minimum requirements of exchanging certain elements of the combine for others, especially the headers and elevators. For example, harvesting corn requires a different type of header to cut and elevate the corn stalks and ears to the threshing mechanism than is required for harvesting wheat, oats, and similar headed stalk crops. Further, harvesting bean or other pod-like crops requires different header structures from those used to harvest corn and wheat-like crops for example.
With respect to the threshing and separating mechanism of the combine however, it is preferred that the same be adapted to thresh and separate substantially all types of seed type crops for purposes of threshing and separating the seed from the stalks, vines and other waste material, the latter being discharged upon the field as the combine moves along the same in a harvesting operation.
It readily can be appreciated that adapting a combine to harvest, thresh and separate a wide variety of crop materials of the type referred to above makes it necessary that the combine handle a substantial variety of different types of crops varying as to bulk, moisture content, toughness of the stalk or vine included in the crops and otherwise. Preferably, by adjusting the spacings between the rotors and concaves in threshing and separating areas of the combine, this part of the apparatus has been developed successfully and comprises, for example, the subject matter of the following prior patents, all of which are assigned to the assignee of the present invention.
______________________________________ 3,626,472 Dec. 7, 1971 3,645,270 Feb. 29, 1972 3,664,100 May 23, 1972 3,794,047 Feb. 26, 1975 ______________________________________
Notwithstanding the capabilities of the inventions comprising the subject matter of the foregoing patents, it now has been found that additional features render such universal type combines even more efficient and effective. For example, referring to said aforementioned U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,626,472 and 3,794,047 there is a ramp, transition or feed plate which extends between the upper end of the bottom plate of the elevator, upwardly and rearwardly toward the forward end of the rotor of the threshing and separating mechanism. Said combines are of the type in which the lower span of the elevator feeds the crop material upwardly and rearwardly toward the forward end of the rotors, delivering the same to the rotors in a so-called undershot manner. The rotors conventionally employ an auger at the forward end thereof which is rotated by power means in a direction to feed the crop material inwardly to the rotors for engagement by said rotors and concaves associated therewith in the combine which is of the axial flow type, the same being the type to which the present invention pertains.
The ramp plate employed heretofore, as illustrated in aforementioned U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,626,472 and 3,794,047, relies on the crop material being delivered by the elevator to the lower end of the ramp to push the previously-delivered crop material upwardly along the ramp and into the working paths of the augers.
However, depending upon the nature and character of the crop 30 and especially the toughness thereof, moisture content, bulk and the like, for example, crop material having green or unripened stems, stalks or vines, such crop material tends to drag and build-up on the lower end of the ramp adjacent the rear end of the elevator and impede the flow of incoming material from the elevator. This is believed to be caused by the loss of positive control over the movement of the crop material once it exits from the elevator due to the particular configuration and positional relationship of the aforementioned ramp to the discharge end of the elevator and the forward end of the augers.